Contactless power couplers are being increasingly used in various applications such as robotics technology, rotary applications and molding equipment, due to their many advantages over conventional power connectors. These advantages include improved operability under hostile environmental conditions for power transmission such as in dirty, humid, or explosive environments. They also allow an unlimited number of mating cycles with a low wear and tear, prevention from electric shocks, sparks and current leaks, and are relatively insensitive to vibrations or misalignment between connecting parts.
Several configurations of contactless couplers for inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) applications, also called contactless connectors, are known. In general, in ICPT systems the power transfer function is provided by inductive magnetic coupling established between a coil at the power transmitting side and a second coil at the power receiving side. The current circulating through the coil at the transmitting coupler produces a magnetic field that bridges a gap between the front-ends of the transmitting and receiving couplers. The induced magnetic field is picked up by the coil at the receiving coupler, thereby inducing an alternate voltage at the respective coil that is then converted to a DC voltage by an AC/DC converter.
ICPT applications having a wireless inductive coupling for the power link combined with a radio frequency (RF) coupling for the data link have been proposed. For instance, a contactless coupler for ICPT applications that makes use of a 2.4 GHz RF coupling for the transmission of data signals is known. Such contactless coupler includes a 2.4 GHz transceiver which includes a loop antenna that is provided in front of the induction coil and at the coupler front-end. This configuration has the drawback that the medium (air, gas, oil, etc) in between the two coupler halves could attenuate the RF signal, decreasing the reliability and usefulness of the data link.